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DeSoto police say family-violence reports rose in 2024; department highlights outreach and response teams
Summary
Chief Joe Costa said family-violence incidents rose 15.8% in 2024 to 603 reported incidents, and described the Domestic Violence Advisory Committee and the department's care team as part of the response.
Chief Joe Costa said the DeSoto Police Department recorded an increase in family-violence reports in 2024 and described how the department and community partners respond.
The chief reported that family violence totaled 603 incidents in 2024, a 15.8% increase from 2023 and a 10.3% increase over five years. "Family violence went up last year. Always a challenge for us," Costa said. He suggested increased reporting and awareness may partly account for the rise and emphasized that additional reports can lead to more victims receiving help.
Why it matters: family violence involves immediate public-safety risks and sustained services for victims. The department noted it relies on the Domestic Violence Advisory Committee (DVAC) and the DeSoto Police Clergy and Community partnership to offer victims support and referrals.
Costa defined family violence for the audience as crimes that occur within a household or between intimate partners, including simple assault or more serious injuries: "Family violence is any crime that happens in a household, with a family member or someone that's living in a household or a boyfriend-girlfriend type relationship." He said the department tracks "offenses with contact" (for example, pushes or shoves) as a subset of those incidents.
Ending: The department said it deploys a care team and works with clergy and social-service partners to connect victims with resources and to try to prevent escalation.
